Joint Christmas Present

This year Chris and I decided to buy a joint Christmas present for each other. Last time we went camping, our gazebo got damaged by the wind. This was mainly due to the fact that it only was a cheap and flimsy thing in the first place; made of thin aluminium poles.

We have always wanted a proper steel gazebo, preferably a pop-up type but they are usually around £300. However, we did notice a while ago that they are being sold quite reasonably on eBay, so we thought that we could try to get one for less than Fifty (plus postage).

At last, this weekend we were lucky and managed to get one for £47.00 + £20 for postage. It arrived today, and it looks every bit as good as it seemed in the advert. It has 4 zipped sides, two plain green and two with windows. Judging by the weight it ought to be strong enough to withstand any normal windy night. Even the material seems stronger than our old one.

Here is a picture of Chris fine-tuning the old gazebo last summer. We always attach it to the tent to utilise the most of the space.

This is the picture of our new one as it was in the advert on eBay. We haven't put it up yet so we have no photos of our own yet.

Christmas Lights switch on

It's that time of the year again! Yesterday was the big switch on of the lights in Hanley. Santa's parade arrived, complete with Rudolph and the other reindeers. Signal Radio was there recording the event live and a quire was singing Christmas songs.

The best of it all, though, was the snow machine. It squirted out real snow in big flakes. It looked fabulous; glowing in the street-lamp lights against the dark sky, just as if it was snowing for real.

Tontine Square and all the surrounding area was absolutely packed with people. The atmosphere was wonderful, almost like a good football match.

At half past seven the Lord Mayer got on stage and switched all the town centre Christmas lights on and immediately we were all excited.

This was the start of the late night shopping and Debenhams had a sale on and were going to be open until midnight. We were all promised free parking after 6.30 every night until New Years Eve.